I grabbed this book, by meteorologist Eric Holthaus, as soon as it went on sale, excited to check out the new vision of how we can all better live together. There’s lots of information for the uninitiated, and then it becomes sort of a fictional narrative. There are no characters
Continue readingAuthor: Marie Snyder
A Puff of Absurdity: Hedges – the Last Word on Cancel Culture
Having a mass of people able to “cancel” someone in power can seem like a fantastic form of fluid democracy when it shuts down something harmful in a harmless manner, like people reserving space at a Trump rally they have no intention of attending. But it can be dangerous that
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Some Paintings
I got on a painting kick this week. I haven’t picked up a brush in years, but, seeing as I have nowhere else to go, I gave it a whirl. It started with my obsession over a photograph of Charf Lloyd taken by Kirk Tsonos. This is my rendering of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Learning History
I made a little history quiz, just for fun, for people to see how much they know about Canada’s history of horrific treatment of Indigenous Peoples as well as our history of slavery and internment camps. I mixed in facts about America at many points just to give people context. Because
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On McQuaig’s Sport and Prey
Linda McQuaig’s newest book, The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth, is a fast read full of local history and written as history should be written, as colourful stories about fascinating people! But, in order to try to remember any of it, I’ve whittled
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Laws and Common Sense
I’m thankful that my city council decided to make masks mandatory starting July 13th, even though I know a few, like the Regional Chair herself, were hoping that people could be persuaded to do the right thing without the law getting involved. Three weeks ago, our region launched a #FaceMaskFriday
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Another Rant About Overpopulation Arguments
I don’t actually care that much about overpopulation, not nearly as much as I care about re-regulating industry with climate a top priority and changing economic policy to decrease inequities, but there’s such a frustrating argument I’ve seen a few times on social media and ranted about it before, but
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Found Letters from 1944: Frank and Ray and Johny
My daughter just found an old tin in the back of a cupboard. I have no idea where I got it, but it has two photos and two letters: Frank and Ray? or Johny? Both letters are addressed to Mr. F. Krizoski / Kresky / Krizusiki, 46 Cherry Street, Kitchener,
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: An Eye for an Eye in Cancel Culture
Some finish that with “… leaves the whole world blind,” but that somewhat belies the meaning of the phrase. The idea is that we should never take a drop more than equitable retribution. It’s was written in the Code of Hammurabi almost 4,000 years ago: “If a man put out the eye
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger and El Jones on #CancelCanadaDay
Migrants Rights Network hosted an online teach-in for “so called Canada Day” with two revolutionaries: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a Dënesųłiné (ts’ékui) member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, from Treaty 8 land, and El Jones, a spoken word poet, educator, journalist, co-founder of the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Remember Climate Change?
We have a strong survival instinct that has us focus on immediate dangers at the expense of potential long term dangers. So we’ve been immersed in trying to solve Covid19 issues and BLM issues to stop people from dying right in front of us, and I’ve been rambling on about
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: In Retrospect: School in the Time of Covid
This video about online learning, “numb” by Liv McNeil, is making the rounds: This has been a difficult time, and the video is cathartic for some. But first a bit about the video structure as a short film: Some things were fantastic, like the sound of kids laughing as she’s
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Policing: On Finding the Line
A mask, six feet, and being outdoors: pick any two at a time, amirite? Plus wash your hands before and after eating or touching your face. Pretty easy. So, ironically, sort of, as I wrote about the importance avoiding policing one another in our daily lives, I got called out
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Policing: Time for Change
In 1982, Milton Friedman advised, “Keep options open until circumstances make change necessary. There is enormous inertia–a tyranny of the status quo–in private and especially governmental arrangements. Only a crisis–actual or perceived–produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Policing: Maintaining Institutions
Victoria’s Secret I’m just kicking around the idea of defunding the police and trying to picture how it all works and how we get from here to there to explore if it’s necessarily the best route. Police take up a huge part of municipal budgets, and seeing cops in riot
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Policing: Checking Up or Checking In
Two things happened recently that have me thinking about the nature of policing of one another beyond blue uniforms. It’s that policing attitude I’m questioning. #1. At an online meeting with an admin of my high school, we were told our marks are due Monday morning, a few days ahead of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Trans Shitposting and Cancel Culture: Applying ContraPoints to J.K. Rowling
I was going to just ignore all this, but it came up in a discussion on my social media feed, so here’s the thing: Here’s J.K. Rowling‘s now infamous post explaining her position on the transgender population. Some people have insisted it’s very articulate, and she’s been dismissed unfairly by the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Opening Schools in September
The province is asking for our advice – the public‘s – in how to open schools in September. As much as I value democracy, getting advice on a public health issue from random people with the time and energy to respond makes me very nervous. Consulting the public might be a
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Gun Control
I’ve been observing many gun control arguments online and in the classroom (also online) recently. I’ve written about this before, once after Sandy Hook and then after a Stoneman Douglas shooting surviver put the onus on school staff to keep kids safe. This one’s closer to home, so I finally
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Reich’s The System
Robert Reich, an economist and professor of economics at Princeton who served under Ford, Carter, and Clinton administrations, had a great discussion with Michael Sandel, political philosophy professor at Harvard, about Reich’s new book: The System: Who Rigged It and How to Fix It. I can only find the 60 minute
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